I Thought You Were Dead
by Alchemist14
Summary: A mysterious tutor is teaching magical children without a licence and Narcissa Malfoy investigates. Who is this woman and when she is found what will she reveal and how will Lucius and Severus deal with events this meeting brings up? Contains OOC Lucius and Severus and evil Dumbles
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Rose Smith strode down an ordinary muggle street, the suburban houses in neat little rows with matching flowerboxes her only focus as she searched for the house she needed. Her gaze fixed on the tiny iron numbers neatly fastened to the perfectly glazed doors. Her curly ginger hair sparkling in the hot mid-afternoon sunlight, aqua blue eyes half-lidded against the glare as she walked along lost in her thoughts.

Narcissa Malfoy strode along that same muggle street glaring in disgust at the identical muggle houses, that's the problem with muggles, no originality! Bloody sheep the lot of them! If it weren't for necessity she wouldn't even step foot into the muggle world it annoyed her so. But her Lucius had asked her to go and investigate a strange tutor who was going around teaching young wizarding children without a licence, so naturally she had agreed. Now she was regretting it as she narrowed her eyes into an icy glare at the numbers screwed onto the muggle front doors.

Suddenly she was rudely flung to the hard concrete pavement as a strange muggle woman with aggravating ginger hair crashed into her.  
"Argh" Narcissa cried in anger, "damn idiot! What do you think you're playing at?!" She brushed her hands brusquely together to rid herself of the stinging gravel and glared through narrow eyes at her attacker, a strand of loose hair fluttering in her face.  
"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry! Here let me help you, can you ever forgive me" the other woman gushed, hand outstretched to Narcissa offering her help to the fallen woman. 

"No need" Narcissa snarled, " I am perfectly capable of standing up by myself" she pushed herself up and dusted off her pale blue dress, fixing the woman in front of her with her piercing blue eyes as she took in the sensible flats, neat black skirt and nervously twisting hands in front of a pale cream sweater.  
"I must enquire as to what you were doing that had you so distracted you carelessly bumped into me" she queried, eyebrow raised in indignation. 

Rose bit her lip and studied her feet with sudden interest, "I'm late for my tutoring session, and to top it all off I can't find the right house" she sighed and gesture to the houses, "they just all look exactly the same" her exasperation showed in both her face and her tone, Narcissa couldn't help but smirk in amusement.  
"I completely agree my dear" she replied, all anger gone from her tone, "I'm Narcissa, Narcissa Malfoy, it's a pleasure to meet you" a perfectly manicured hand was outstretched between them and dropped almost as quickly when she observes the complete and utter fear and panic on her face.

The woman took a step back and darted a look behind her as if she was looking for an escape route.  
"You" Narcissa spat accusingly, "you're the tutor Lucius asked me to investigate! You're coming with me" the woman had been gradually moving backwards away from Narcissa and as she spoke Lucius' name had turned on her heel and run, she hadn't gotten far however when a hand closed around her arm in a vice like grip and she was pulled through the familiar tube like squeezing of apparition.

On the ordinary muggle street the last echoes of a terrified scream faded away into silence, the only evidence of the disappearance of two people. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

There was a resounding crack in the middle of the enormous, elegantly furnished sitting room of the Malfoy manor. Narcissa stumbled as she tried to keep her grip on the furiously struggling woman whose arm she still gripped.

She gave her a furious shake and finally sighed and cast and bound her with ropes to the nearest chair and silenciod her. She stood appreciatively in the silence for a moment before turning her back on the struggling figure and calling out "DOBBY".  
Another crack split the air and a small house elf with bulbous blue eyes and a large protruding nose appeared and bowed so low to the floor that its nose touched the ground. "What can Dobby bes doing for Mistress Narcissa?" It squeaked nervously, "Fetch Lucius and tell him I have completed his little errand and have a present waiting for him in the sitting room" it bowed again "certainly mistress" and disappeared once more.

She rounded on the woman in the chair and gave her an evil smirk "let's see how you deal with my husband" she was pleased to see the tear that ran down her cheek at the mere mention of Lucius.

Barely five minutes later, the doors were flung open and Lucius came striding in without sparing the woman in the chair a glance and embraced his wife.  
"Narcissa darling" he said smoothly, "did you do what I asked?"  
She smiled and nodded "yes dear, I did one better and brought the culprit here" she simpered, pointing to the chair. He laughed and nodded "of course you did" he turned and for the first time looked at the woman tied to the chair and his breath caught in his throat, his eyes widened and his face lost all colour.

"Lucius, Lucius! Are you quite alright?" Narcissa cried grabbing her husband's hand s and squeezing tightly. 

"Rose" he whispered in anguish "it can't be"  
"what are you talking about who is Rose!" Narcissa was so confused, she thought Lucius would be happy with what she had done but instead he seemed positively ill. She spun once again to face the woman in the chair and released her from the Silencio spell,  
"who are you and what have you done to my husband!" She screeched slapping her round the face, pulling back her hand to repeat the action she was stopped by a hand closing around her wrist, "enough cissa" was whispered softly to her and she was pulled away.

The woman lifted her head and met Lucius' eyes "Lucius, I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me?" The anguish in her voice was palpable and seemed as if it were a slap to the face to Lucius.

His shock transformed into rage and he screamed at her "FORGIVE YOU, HOW COULD I EVER FORGIVE YOU! YOU... YOU... WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! YOU BROKE HIS HEART!"

Narcissa jerked back and stared at him, he had never in the years that she had known him, shown so much emotion, the woman in the chair finally gave into the sobs that she had been holding at bay.  
"I never meant to hurt you, I thought you would understand my reasons, I had to get away, I couldn't stand it anymore." She shook her head and raised her eyes to his desperately, "you have to believe me when I say that I love him, I love you all and I wrote Abraxas a letter to give to you all explaining what I had done!"

Lucius stood there fuming with his fists clenched by his sides, arms shaking with emotion, "is this true" he whispered "did you really... tell him?" Hope filled her eyes at his words, "yes, yes I did, you have to believe me Lucius!" He removed his wand from his robes pocket and pointed it at her, hurt in his eyes as she flinched away from him, releasing her bonds and spoke finally, opening his arms to her.

"I do, Rose, I do" he assured her and she rushed towards him, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him and pressing a kiss lightly to the top of her head. "I am so glad you are safe" he whispered, his own tears dropping into her hair as hers dampened the front of his robes.

Narcissa cleared her throat indignantly as they acted like she wasn't in the room, "Lucius" she wined "what is going on? Who is she?" They both chuckled and pulled apart finally, wiping their eyes and turning to face Narcissa.  
"Cissa dear, meet Rose Evans, Lily Evans' sister" he explained  
"adopted naturally" she explained stretching her hand out to Narcissa "it's a pleasure to meet you, I grew up around your husband and we were" her she shot a furtive glance at Lucius and he nodded his assent so with a wide smile she amended her statement.  
"We are good friends" Narcissa shook her hand numbly, "I never knew Lily had a sister, she never spoke of you" a dark look flashes across Roses' face but was gone before she could confirm it was ever there, "my... Sister and I never really got along, she hated me, Sev and Luc were the only ones who ever spoke to me"

Suddenly the doors to the sitting room slammed open once more and Severus Snape stood silhouetted in the doorway. Long silky black hair pulled back into a neat ponytail he wore his brewing robes and his trademark glare.

"What on Earth is going on in here?" He snarled menacingly, "is it too much to ask for a bit of peace and quiet while I am brewing?" 


	3. Chapter 3

I Thought You Were Dead Chapter 3

Lucius quickly whirled to face the door, pushing Rose roughly behind him in an attempt to hide her presence from their old friend, voluminous robes swirling around him.  
"Now, now Severus, any good couple still has a disagreement sometimes" Lucius soothed, hands raised in a placating gesture "Narcissa simply failed to complete a job I gave her"  
Narcissa flushed in outrage that her husband would humiliate her so in front of their friend, "Lies!" she screeched, grabbing Rose in a vice like grip and wrenching her out from behind Lucius' protective shadow "I completed the job perfectly! Look!"

Severus paled dramatically at the sight of the struggling woman in Narcissa's grip, cool mask slipping momentarily before being wrestled back into place seamlessly.  
"Ah I can see why _that _would cause a problem" he sneered looking down his nose at them, "but I would still appreciate some quiet"

At that Severus turned and began to walk out the door, halted only by Lucius calling desperately to him, "Severus she can explain!" but he was ignored and Severus swept out without a backwards glance.  
"Well that went well" Lucius joked weakly, flicking a hand angrily at Narcissa telling her in no uncertain words to release her bruising grip on Rose. Once her arm was released, her weak legs finally gave up on supporting her weight and she crumpled to her knees, hand flying to grasp her throat as her breath began to come in gasps and wheezes before she began to convulse violently, limbs flailing uncontrollably in all directions.  
Lucius was at her side in seconds, pale aristocratic face tense with worry as he struggled to pin down her struggling body, "Narcissa" he yelled frantically, "get Severus back here!"

Without a backward glance, Narcissa fled from the room hair flying behind her, robes flapping in her wake as she raced down to the dungeons were Severus had just made it back to his lab. A few seconds after Narcissa's footsteps had finished resounding in the corridors, the spasms finally stopped and the only sound in the cavernous room was her laboured breaths as Lucius tenderly stroked back the sweaty hair from her forehead, muttering soothing nonsense all the while.

Severus sat down heavily in his favourite brown leather armchair, head in his hands as he desperately tried to come to terms with what he had just witnessed, it must have just been a cruel joke on Lucius' behalf. He shook his head and stood up to pour himself a nice strong glass of firewhiskey which he then proceeded to pour all over himself and the floor, as a pounding at the door startled him.  
He let out a few choice words and stalked to the door, wrenching it open as he snarled an angry "yes", only to blanch at the panicked expression on Narcissa's flushed and sweaty face, "what is it Narcissa?" he asked softly sensing the distress in her expression.  
"Just come quickly, its serious" she gasped frantically, grabbing his hand and running back up the corridor, dragging a speechless Severus behind her.

Lucius grabbed a small pillow and gently raised Rose's head and placed it underneath, brushing a stray hair off her head and stroking her cheek gently with his thumb as she whimpered quietly, sucking in ragged breaths.  
"It's alright, Narcissa's getting you help, everything is going to be alright" he soothed, just then the door burst open and Narcissa ran in pulling a dishevelled Severus behind her, moments later Severus was knelt at his side checking her pulse with two slender fingers.

"What happened?" he asked hastily as he rummaged through his supply of potions that were ever present in his voluminous pockets, "I.. I don't know" Lucius stammered "one minute she was fine and then the next she was just lying there, thrashing around and I couldn't do anything" his hands shook as he brushed a few strands of hair away from his face.

Severus had his wand out and was carefully running diagnostic spells as rapidly as he could, before sitting back on his heels and sighing, summoning a potions vial to himself he uncorked it and poured it in her mouth, rubbing her throat to coax it down.  
Rose immediately lost her tenuous grip on consciousness and allowed the blackness that had been creeping up around the edge of her vision to take over, as her breathing finally evened out once more.

Lucius looped an arm behind her back and the other beneath her legs before lifting her up into his arms and turning to Severus, "what happened to her?" he enquired as he began to walk slowly through the manor to a spare bedroom.  
Severus shook his head sadly, "I have only ever encountered this type of condition once before, she has the rare wizarding disease _cor finalum, _basically her heart and lungs are weakening everyday to the point where they will just cease to function"

Lucius paled dramatically and tears glistened in his eyes, " is there a cure?" he asked desparately, she had only just been returned to them only to be wrenched away once more, this time for good it was unbearable.  
"I'm afraid not, it is so rare that the Ministry does not deem it important enough to spend money researching on" Severus spat in obvious disgust. They both walked side by side into a large airy bedroom with ocean murals painted on the walls that ebbed and flowed calmingly, a big four poster bed lay in the centre of the room, aqua blue coverings peppered with a multitude of pillows and a velvety comforter.

Lucius carefully lay her down on the bed as Severus drew the covers up to her chin in an attempt to bring some warmth back into her chilled body, before both men sank into hard backed chairs on opposite sides of the bed that had been skilfully transfigured into existence.  
"How long does she have left" Lucius whispered desolately, petrified at what the answer may be, "from what I can tell, about a year, maybe less" Severus replied equally as softly, mindful of the pain in his friends face.

The two men lapsed into a comfortable silence, thoughts whirling in their heads as they contemplated what the future may hold.


End file.
